The Human Resources Committee of East Hampshire District Council met on Thursday 13 June 2024 and discussed three policies. They approved new policies on Flexible Working and Paternity Leave and noted a new policy on Carers in the Workplace.

2024-25 Pay Award

The committee noted a 4.25% uplift on all spinal column points of the council pay scales, following a brief discussion about how the pay award was decided.

Councillor Shah asked whether:

there was an opportunity for pay increases on competitive job positions that were difficult to recruit for

Mr Treasure, the council's HR Operations Manager, explained that while the base pay increase applied to all roles, recruitment agencies could request market supplement pay increases for roles that were hard to fill. He specifically mentioned legal, planning and IT roles as examples.

Councillor Hatter asked why the pay award had been brought to the committee in February 2024 for the 2023-24 financial year, but was only being brought to the committee in June 2024 for the 2024-25 financial year.

The members sought clarification as to why the 2024-25 pay award was being brought to the Committee only 6 months after the noting of the 2023-24 pay award

Mr Treasure explained that this was because the previous year's pay negotiations with Unison had been delayed, and that this year an affordability and sustainability preliminary plan had been produced earlier, which had allowed for the pay award to be agreed sooner.

Councillor Sear asked about the possibility of implementing a non-union pay negotiation scheme for staff who were not members of a union.

Mr Treasure responded that this would be difficult:

the pay award negotiations were union based and it would been challenging to have a scheme in place for negotiations with non-union staff members due to the emotive subject

However, he reminded the committee that Unison was open to all staff.

Councillor Schillemore asked if it would be possible for the pay award to be brought to the committee before it was implemented, so that committee members would have more oversight of the process and the opportunity to contribute. Mr Treasure responded that this would be difficult, as the final decision on pay rested with the Head of Paid Service, but agreed to discuss the possibility of earlier notification with the Head of Paid Service and the Director of Change and Performance.

Flexible Working Policy

The committee voted to approve a new Flexible Working Policy. The meeting minutes do not record any discussion of this item.

Paternity Leave Policy

The committee voted to approve a new Paternity Leave Policy. The meeting minutes do not record any discussion of this item.

Carers in the Workplace Policy

The committee voted to note a new Carers in the Workplace policy. The meeting minutes do not record any discussion of this item.